MEBANE — David Cheek is Mebane’s new city manager, taking over for Robert Wilson, who is retiring after 25 years of service.

Cheek moves from his role as assistant city manager to manager after the first of the new year.

“Mebane’s an exciting place to be part of city government,” he said. “It’s a great place. I want to help it thrive and help it grow at an organized pace. I just want to do a good job.”

Cheek, 52, is a graduate of N.C. State University, where he majored in accounting. He is a CPA.

Cheek and his wife, Tammy, have three children — Lauren Parrish, 26; DJ, 24; and Anna, 15. Tammy works at Burlington Christian Academy.

Cheek has a wealth of experience in local municipal and county government. He worked as manager of Alamance County for eight years before leaving to take a job as vice president of administrative and fiscal services for Alamance Community College. From there Cheek moved three years ago to the position of assistant city manager of Mebane.

“We’ve got what I think is a super team to lead the city for the next 20 years or so,” said Mebane Mayor Glendel Stephenson. “David’s a great guy. We feel we’re very fortunate.”

Chris Rollins, Graham’s former city manager, has moved to Mebane as assistant city manager.

Cheek, who graduated from Graham High School in 1978, had an interesting work history before landing a job with Alamance County. After graduating from N.C. State, he worked four years for the state auditor’s office and followed that with four years with the state controller’s office.

Cheek said he and his wife were ready to settle down and start a family and sought to return to Alamance County. Former Graham City Manager Bruce Turney was a family friend, Cheek said, and called former Alamance County Manager Robert Smith on his behalf. Cheek eventually landed a job as assistant county manager and moved to the position of manager when Smith retired.